It's Time
by Aspire Away
Summary: Hello, this is my version for The Irish Lass's challenge, if you don't know what it is, it's a challenge where you use the prompts she suggested you use in your story. Check it out and vote for the best!
1. Chapter 1: Pranks and Movie Night

Sabrina stared in the mirror. She told her reflection not to cry. She always listened to herself, so she knew she'd obey.

Her reflection sobbed.

Why did that egoistic, irritating, rude, insulting, annoyingly cute fairy do this to her? Had he no rights? Did he have no shame?

Sabrina had never thought she was pretty. Not even when Puck told her. She figured he was just giving a shot at being nice to see if he liked it or not. Apparently he didn't. For now, she was staring in the mirror, her bald head shining in the light. Her golden locks were gone, the one thing she had admired in her looks. Her crown of beauty. Gone.

She balled her fists. Puck was going to pay. Big time.

* * *

"You're almost there, buddy! Come on! GO GO GO!" Puck yelled at the TV screen.

"How did you trip over yourself, fool? RUN!" Uncle Jake yelled with him. They both had on matching jerseys for their favorite soccer team. Puck waved around a foam hand with _#1 Fan!_ printed across it. The opposing team took over the soccer ball and guided it towards Puck and Jake's team's goal. They yelled and leaned forward anxiously. Puck spilled over the popcorn, but they didn't noticed. Then, their team's best soccer player came running in and circled around the ball's capturer before kicking out his left foot swiftly, taking the ball away from its goal and saving his team's pride.

Jake and Puck yelled and watched the player score a goal. Then, Jake leapt onto the couch and started jumping up and down, while Puck excitedly pumped his fist in the air and flipped over the table.

"Boys! Stop that! What did I tell you about overreacting during soccer season?" Granny cried, rushing into the room.

"Sorry," they both muttered, bowing their heads in shame. Granny grumbled about irresponsible teens and adults before going back to the kitchen.

Just then, Sabrina came down the stairs, a smirk firmly on her face. Puck glanced uneasily at her, and Jake guiltily turned away. Sabrina had asked him earlier for a spell to grow her hair back, but Jake had answered, "Hair is its own mind. Spells won't work for it. I can only do one that would speed up its growth, but your hair follicles will only obey if it wants to."

So Sabrina had yelled at him. "I thought you were an expert at magic! You met Merlin! You went to Camelot! You collect unique potions and spells all around the world!" were her words before slamming the door of his room behind her.

"Will she get over it?" Puck whispered.

"If she stops looking in the mirrors all over the house, then maybe," Jake answered. He sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" Puck transformed into a dog for better sense and sniffed at the air around them. It smelled like moist smoke. He shifted back. "What's burning?"

Jake went into tne kitchen. "Mom, did you burn something on the stove?" he asked.

Granny looked up from her newest recipe, jellied moose nose with yellow steak on its side. "No, why?" she asked.

"It smells like smoke in the living room," Puck said, appearing at Jake's side.

Granny pushed past them and went into the living room. "Oh my, it does," she agreed. "Let's look upstairs."

The three of them made their way up the stairs and into the hallway. "It's worse here," Jake said, eyeing the gray smoke wafting in the air. He followed its trail…which led to Puck's room. Underneath the door, the floor looked like it was shaking.

Puck burst the door open and yelped when he saw the scene before him.

It was a catastrophe. Monkeys howled and ran out of the forest, which was on fire. The fire spread throughout the room and singed off the grass along the river. Puck's kangaroo frantically jumped up and down on the trampoline. It was wearing cleats that looked like they were forcefully tied onto his big feet, causing the trampoline to collapse. The roller coaster was broken down, with more smoke rising out of its wreckage. The ice cream truck was speeding around the room, with more monkeys and a panda trapped inside, shouting their heads off, before the truck plunged into the river, which was iced over. It shattered through the ice and sank. Rockets in the sky were raining down towards the ground, colliding with any object standing in their way.

But the worst thing about it all: Puck's precious gold statue of himself, which had taken him two months to model, was crushed and destroyed. Pieces of glass lay on the floor around it. The small bronze plaque was missing.

Puck fell onto his knees in the midst of the chaos. His room was gone! His beautiful, boast-worthy room! Who could've done it?

He thought it over. He was the last one to be in his room. No one ever came into his room. Except-

The smirk. The hair.

He stormed down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Sabrina was huddled into the corner, near the trash. She froze when he saw her.

"Hands out. Now." Puck barked.

She wordlessly held out her hands. In her palm was a small plaque.

* * *

"I have to say, I'm very disappointed in the both of you. I never thought I'd say this till now after the four years I've seen you two fight, but this has gotten very out of hand! Sabrina, what do you have to say about what you did?"

"I say I had every right to do it! Puck decides to shave my head on the night of my friend's sleepover. It was cruel and had no meaning. What's the big deal about his room? It's all created from magic! Uncle Jake could fix it right up! Maybe," Sabrina said, glaring at her uncle.

"What's the big deal about her hair? She could just get a wig! Burning down my room didn't make anything better! Now I'm just tempted to shave off her eyebrows!" Puck said, glaring at Sabrina. "Besides, Uncle Jake could've helped her with her hair with magic. Maybe."

"Oh, when did I become the family's personal wizard? I may be an expert when it comes to spells and finding Merlin's crystal, but that doesn't mean I can do _everything_!" Jake said, glaring at them both.

All the glaring among the three of them continued for another minute until Granny spoke up again. "Okay, enough. I have to agree with Puck on this. Destroying his room didn't make anything better. But Puck, that doesn't mean it wasn't wrong to shave off Sabrina's hair. You shouldn't have done it."

"I was bored," he muttered.

Sabrina spoke up. "So, what's our punishment?"

"Your punishment is you're not going to the sleepover tonight."

"But-but," Sabrina sputtered.

"And Puck, your punishment is no desserts for the next two months."

"WHAT? That's so unfair! My punishment is worse than Sabrina's!" exclaimed Puck.

"Not exactly," said Granny. "Because your punishment together is this: tonight will now be a family movie night."

Jake gasped. "No!" he cried. "Why are you punishing all of us?"

Granny frowned. "I'm not punishing all of us. I know they're the only ones that hate when we have a family movie night, so it's just them getting punished."

The three of them glanced at each other, calling a temporary truce. In truth, everyone in the Grimm household hated family movie night. The reason? There were many reasons. Number one being someone would talk every five seconds throughout the movie. Nobody seemed able to shut up. Number two was Granny banned junk food on movie nights and made everyone eat something healthy, but not the good healthy. Raisin Bran cereal with plums next to it was the most despised. The third reason could be avoided. They crossed their fingers.

"And because Daphne has been the most agreeable this week, _she _will be the one to pick the movie."

Puck, Sabrina, and Jake stifled their groans. This was not going to be the night of their life.

* * *

The positions were usually the same except tonight was slightly different. Henry and Veronica would sit on the couch with Daphne and Basil between them. Uncle Jake would sit on the other couch with Granny Relda, but tonight instead of Puck and Sabrina between them, it was just Sabrina between them. Puck sat on the chair away from the couches.

Daphne, the lucky movie chooser, chose her all time favorite: At Long Last Love. One month ago it had been Twilight. Her choices seemed to be getting worse and worse. She insisted movies like these were ones people had to pay attention to closely. No one did. Every five minutes, someone would comment things like, "Does she have to strip while singing?" or an "Oh. Well then."

As Sabrina grudgingly swallowed a plum, her mind wandered from the boring movie. Puck had to have some reason. He couldn't have just been bored. Lately he'd been acting weird. Such as when she was walking towards the kitchen and he held the door open for her. He wasn't even in the kitchen already. He was lying on the couch in the living and had sprung up to open the door for Sabrina when she was about to push it open already. When he saw the strange look she had given him, he'd walked in himself and threw the door in her face.

Henry's mind wandered as well. He was mad about what Puck had done. It had hurt his daughter a lot. He hoped Veronica's mortal friend Delores's son was as charming and sweet as she said he was. He was going to be at Delores's wedding, which was next month.

The movie finally ended. The family got up and stretched.

"So? What was your favorite part? The part where Kitty and Johnny fell in love? Or when the super star nearly got run over? I'm sure you liked that part, right Sabrina?" Daphne babbled. The empty living room with the uneaten cereal answered her.

She shrugged. "Oh well. I'll find something else for next time." Then she took out her laptop and searched the web for oldest to latest movies, ignoring the star ratings completely.

**A/N: So, was it worthy enough for an awesome challenge?**


	2. Chapter 2: Preparations and Soap Operas

A short while after The Very Grim Wrath Incident (as Uncle Jake called it) the family was getting ready for another big event. They were preparing for Veronica's mortal friend's wedding. Everything had to be perfect. And because she wanted the wedding to have fancy decorations and a lot of guests, the Grimms had to work on training the Everafters to act human. Unfortunately, Chicken Little couldn't tell the difference between a knife and a fork.

"They're both used for stabbing; why does it matter how you use them?" he whined.

Granny very patiently told him there wasn't going to be stabbing at the wedding, but proper manners on how to eat food _without a food fight. _After she'd said that statement, Chicken Little had stormed off. "There goes one less wedding invitation," she sighed.

Everyone argued over wedding decorations, the cake, and the music for weeks. Puck argued too, but not over the wedding, for something he actually cared about.

"They're worried over some stupid event that could end miserably!" he complained. "They should be worrying about the fact that I have to sleep on the couch! When are they going to fix my room?"

"When this is all over," Sabrina grouched. "I hate weddings."

"Me too."

They looked at each for a moment then turned away.

A month later, everything was ready. Now everyone was trying on their formal attire.

"Please!" Daphne begged.

"No!"

"PLEASE!"

"Never."

"Fine," Daphne said. "I'll take back the wig then!"

"Ugh! Fine, I'll wear the stupid heels!"

Daphne was pleased by what she had accomplished. She helped her sister try on the crystal high heels.

Two days before the wedding, Puck had enough. Were they really going to make him wear a tuxedo and brush his hair when he stilldidn't sleep in his own bed? Well, technically trampoline, but who cares. When everyone went to bed that night, he decided to seek help from the one person who couldn't possibly care about what was going on. He threw on his hoodie and disappeared into the night.

* * *

Shuddering as he looked at the skulls decorated on the cement sidewalk, Puck hurried up the steps and pounded on the door.

It slowly creaked open. An old hag stood in the doorway with bloodshot eyes.

"Ba-Baba Yaga!" Puck stuttered. "What a pleasure to see you again."

Baba Yaga huffed. "What could you possibly want from me at this time?"

He shoved past her and stepped into the house. "I want you to rebuild my room, that's what! Some kind of spell from your antique book or something!" He reached over for a book that was sitting on the cluttered counter, but a wilting flower snapped at him. Puck withdrew his hand. "Grimm was mad that I shaved her head, so she got back at me by practically burning down my whole room! I've had to sleep on the couch for two months!"

Baba Yaga cackled. "You shaved off her hair?" she howled. "I'm very impressed!"

Puck couldn't help but grin.

"Very well," she said, staring at him with new respect. "But keep in mind; magic has a price."

"What do I have to do?" asked Puck nervously.

"Well…" Baba Yaga glanced over at the glowing TV screen. "You could watch soap opera with me."

"What?" Puck cried. "I'm not watching that junk!"

Baba Yaga's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Um, because I-um…" Puck shifted from one foot to another.

"Have you even watched soap opera before?"

"No. My mother said I should watch it because it would help me understand things better when I'm a king, but I didn't listen to her."

"We already know just how royal you are," she muttered. "Well, no soap opera, no magic. That's that."

"I'll watch _one _episode. Then I'm out of here."

"Good. Then I'll come by tomorrow and fix your room." She held out her wrinkly hand with dirty sharp nails. "Deal?"

Puck quickly shook it and let go. "Deal."

Baba Yaga went back to the couch and put in the tape. Then she leaned back and put her feet on the table.

Puck sat on the chair across from the couch and sank back.

The soap opera they were watching was called _The Restless Years. _Puck hated to admit it, but he actually liked watching it. The series made use of dramatic storylines involving murders, kidnapping, blackmail, and mentioned things about unemployment, romance, money-making schemes, and parental problems. It was his kind of show. When it ended, Baba Yaga stood up. "You can leave now," she said. "Tomorrow I'll come over to your grandmother's house."

"Oh, um, okay," Puck said, standing up.

"Unless you want to stay?"

"Are you that lonely that you need me to stay?" he snickered. "If you insist." He sat back down.

Baba Yaga chuckled, and together, they proceeded to watch a whole season of _The Restless Years. _


	3. Chapter 3: Boys and Wedding Chaos

**A/N: Yes, I have finally updated. Writer's block has been getting in the way, simple as that :( Keep reading if the mood strikes you!**

Hushed voices echoed across the church. A light wind swept through the windows. Everyone was seated, stiffly waiting.

Jed Boarman was wearing a pair of large sunglasses with a large black suit. His brothers wore the same thing. They looked like the Men in Black, or coincidentally, the FBI. The rest of the Everafters were dressed similarly, either in large tuxedos and giant blue dresses, or if they were young small tuxedos and puffy skirts with dressy shirts.

Puck yanked on his freshly ironed white shirt, tempted to at least undo four of the buttons. "Who even wears white and black anymore?" he said loudly. "Only fifty-year olds and dalmatians!"

Henry groaned and sank down in his chair. _Just my luck, _he thought. He was assigned to the seat next to the fairy.

The orchestra played. The congregation stood up. Red, with her hair curled to her shoulders and wearing a puffy white skirt with a long shirt, was the flower girl, throwing rose petals down the aisle with her little basket swinging around.

Then the bride entered with her father. Delores was Veronica's best friend, but they looked and acted the complete opposite. Her curly blonde hair was up to her waist, glowing like the long white dress she wore. Her green eyes gazed around the room then fixed on the altar ahead of her. Her father, David, led her towards the front of the church, beaming proudly. The man who was marrying her waited next to the priest, smiling shyly.

The members of the party were silent as the priest asked the couple if they'd stay with each other through good times and bad, if they would love each other no matter what happened, and if they were going to stay happy as a married couple. Then there was an exchange of wedding vows, until the priest declared them husband and wife. Smatters of applause and roars were heard throughout the church. Half of the Everafters were in tears, and the other half were doing their best not to burst into tears.

At the after party, hundreds of Everafters ran for the bathroom, either to powder up their wigs or to fix their outfits before it slipped off to reveal their true self.

William Charming sidled up to the Grimms with his son, Charles, hiding behind him. "Enjoying the party?" he asked, forcing politeness.

"Yes, thank you for asking," Granny said. "Hello, Charles."

"Hi," Charles squeaked.

"Are you still training him?" Granny said, raising her eyebrows at Charming. She was completely against it when Charming had said he was going to turn Charles into a brave prince and had decided to teach him how to use a sword. There was nothing wrong with defense, but Granny thought eight was far too young to learn how to use such weapons.

"Yes," Charming said, cocking an eyebrow. "Snow's not too eager about it, but she decided it was better than me training him to shoot arrows."

Granny laughed. "I agree."

Veronica, Sabrina, and Delores were standing in the corner. "Oh, Delores, your dress is beautiful!" Veronica gushed.

"Thank you!" Delores smiled. "Dad thought it was too frilly, but mom argued with him and said it looked like perfection on me."

As the adults talked, Sabrina looked around the room. She noticed a really cute boy who was sitting by himself. He was wearing a T-shirt and dark jeans with converse, which meant he must not be an Everafter. He could only be the one person Henry, Veronica, and Delores were talking about for the past month. Dave Sprague, Delores's son.

Sabrina slowly approached him. "Hi," she said.

Dave looked up at her. "Um…hey," he said, smiling crookedly.

"I'm Sabrina Grimm."

"I know."

Sabrina raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, like, uh, I know, because my mom told me about you."

"Oh. Well, same with me."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Cool."

Sabrina mentally cursed herself. Every time moms were brought up in conversations with teens, it just seemed to make everything awkward.

Awkward turned to despondent when Puck showed up eating a huge meatball sandwich.

"These are really good!" he mumbled through the sandwich, spitting food everywhere.

"Go bother someone else," Sabrina demanded.

"Whatever you say, babe," Puck winked at her and then sauntered away, leaving a very puzzled, red-faced Sabrina.

"He your boyfriend?" asked Dave.

"No!" Sabrina blurted out. _This was all Puck's plan_, she thought bitterly. He just won't give me a break.

"If you say so," he said. "Well, I have to go help out with the food servings. See you later, maybe."

"Okay," said Sabrina, watching him leave while feeling a little disappointed.

Daphne came up to her. "Who was that?"

"The bride's son. Then Puck came along."

"Oh," Daphne said. She patted Sabrina's shoulder sympathetically.

Suddenly, they head a glass shatter and cries followed it. People ran out of the reception, yelling and crying out to friends, while some of the Everafters stood still, confused. Someone had broken a window and had thrown in what looked like time bomb. Sabrina was horrified, but when she slowly dared to approach it she saw that no numbers were ticking off, but it was still. Whoever had tossed it in must have done it only to cause havoc.

"What's going on?" Veronica shouted out.

A group of guys then slowly emerged out of the only exit, causing the panicked mortals and Everafters to slowly back away from it. The guy in the center strolled away from the group until he was facing the Grimms.

"Grimms." He nodded. "We were right. They _are_ here. Get them," he ordered, and the rest of the pack slowly circled the family.

"Um, when somebody says, "get them," doesn't that mean they attack us?" a confused Puck asked.

To answer his question, one of the men reached out for Sabrina, and, out of pure instinct, she kicked him in the face with her cleats.

"_Cleats? _Are you serious?" Daphne cried.

"What? I wasn't going to wear the stupid heels," scoffed Sabrina. "These were the only shoes I had time to grab."

"Who are they?" Delores asked, shaking in fear. She was huddled in the corner, clinging to her new husband.

"I-I don't know," Henry replied honestly. "Who are you, and what do you want from us?"

"Oh, we're a new organization," the man who'd first stepped up answered smoothly. He straightened his brown leather jacket. "We didn't know your friend Mirror too well, but at some point Jared was his caretaker.

"And let's just say I didn't take care of him that well," Jared chuckled, and the group joined in, until their leader gave them a glare signifying he was in charge of talking, that they were just there to carry out orders.

"And as for what we want," he continued. "We simply want to take all the Grimms in custody."

"Sorry, buddy," Henry said. "That's not going to happen."

"Very well," replied the leader. "We'll just take one of you, then."

"Not her," the man Sabrina had kicked said. He groaned and raised a hand to his nose, which was now bleeding. "She's vicious."

"I suppose we can take the youngest," said the leader. Without warning, he swiped out and snatched four year old Basil from Granny's hands. "This will make a great prize."

Basil whimpered, struggling to get out of the man's grasp.

"Not on my watch," Veronica said. Then, in five seconds flat, she punched the leader in the face, took back Basil, judo flipped the rest of his members, and smacked down a wine glass for good measure.

The rest of the family gaped at her, along with the remaining party that was at the wedding reception.

Veronica smiled and brushed her hair away from her face before wiping her sweaty brow. "It seems like I hadn't done that in forever," she said.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know I enjoyed writing it. The writer's block had gone away temporarily, hopefully it will be gone for a long time. Please review! I bet you can guess which prompt I'm going to be using next.**


	4. Chapter 4: Young Boxers Sparring

"Basil Grimm, I think it is time I teach you self-defense," Veronica said, putting her son down on the couch. "Or better yet," she mused. "Maybe I can also teach you a different form of fighting. Like boxing!"

Basil watched his mother the whole time she talked, eyes shining with interest. Ever since the incident at the wedding, the family had seemed very…cautious around Veronica, as if they expected her to brawl with them any moment.

The only one who seemed to understand was her oldest daughter. Sabrina knew that if she had been asleep for two years and Daphne had gotten kidnapped during that time, she would have felt wholly responsible. Sabrina also knew that if she had been awake when Daphne had almost gotten taken away a second time, she would never forgive herself. Of course, Henry was used to seeing his wife in action, but wasn't always intent on it when the moment came by after a long while.

Veronica walked towards a dusty closet at the end of the living room and unlocked the latch. She sifted through the boxes until she found what she was looking for: her old boxing gloves from back when she was in her junior year.

Then Veronica looked further into the closet until she found a punching bag about her height, not too short but not too tall either.

"Here are the rules about boxing," Veronica said, circling the punching bag she'd held up. "You need to stay relaxed at all times. Punch lightly so you don't tire yourself out too quickly. Make sure your vision always stays sharp. It's similar to self-defense. Don't have your opponent always get the upper hand. People may think it's a good idea to do this to trick their opponent so they can have a surprise victory, but in truth, if they let their opponent get the upper hand for more than five minutes, they'll get too weak to strike."

She lightly punched the bag and landed another hit a few seconds after. "Then, when the opponent starts to heat up and their blows get more violent, you can let out more of your strength." She demonstrated this by delivering faster hits, striking 78 times in one minute. "In order to still savor some of your remaining strength, you need to make sure you have a steady breath rhythm going. That way, when you give out your most painful blow, you'll be able to breath and concentrate better."

Veronica then went back to the closet and took out a pair of smaller boxing gloves, which were the perfect fit for Basil. She sighed as she looked at them wistfully. Once upon a time she'd been looking forward to the day when Daphne would turn six, the age Henry had reluctantly agreed could be the age when Veronica could teach her how to box. Veronica had bought the boxing gloves ahead of time, assured that her daughter would become a great warrior like her and her father figure. Of course, this was all before she had been kidnapped for two years. Nonetheless, she was proud that her daughters had eventually become brave fighters, but she still found herself wishing that _she _had been the one to teach her daughters the proper skills, not that they had to be taught along the way when dealing with real monsters and not actual, mindful humans.

And now here she was, with the opportunity to teach her next child, her son. So maybe he wasn't six yet, but so what? He needed to learn something before then. After almost getting kidnapped again, the time seemed to have come for young Basil to improve his wits.

Veronica snapped out of her memories and helped Basil slip on the gloves. "Now let's go over what I told you," she said.

For the first three weeks, Veronica guided Basil with punches and staying wary in case the punching bag happened to bounce back at any moment. Then, when she was confident that he was doing well for the first part, she told him they were now going to work on something else very important. They walked outside into the Grimm's small backyard on the fourth week.

"Am I doing more punching today?" Basil inquired.

"Nope," Veronica replied. "Now we're going into sparring."

"Sparring?" Basil asked, astounded. He knew what it was, for his mother had told him the terms that had anything to do with boxing.

"Yes," said Veronica. "Now you need to know the correct ways on how to really fight. Just knowing the basics will enable you to go against someone. And you have the biggest advantage, Basil. Because you're small and young, no one would expect you to be able to land a good blow."

Basil beamed at hearing the fact he could get an advantage when sparring.

"Now." Veronica faced him squarely. "Remember. You cannot hit below the belt, for that isn't the decent way to box. Bolo punches can also be helpful. While the punch itself doesn't exactly help you cause much damage, it could help you succeed in distracting your opponent so you can land a blow."

"I don't want to hurt you though, Mommy," Basil said helplessly.

Veronica smiled at him. "You won't," she promised. "Now come on. Give me all you got."

At first Basil was a bit hesitant about his punches, not used to the fact that his mother was his coach and was training him by being his first opponent. Then, he started to warm up, his hits becoming more deliberate, especially after Veronica tried out a feint. Soon, he was boxing like a real fighter, giving it all he had in him.

Unknown to the two of them, everybody had gathered around to watch. Puck was amazed at the scene before him, while Henry wasn't sure how to react.

Then, it even went as far as to when Basil distracted Veronica momentarily with a jab before landing a harder blow, causing Veronica to stumble back.

"Mommy!" Basil hurried over to where Veronica had stumbled, but not before tripping over the table that was away from the area they were sparring in, which they had referred to as the "ring." Out of pure instinct, he landed a blow on the vase that had been sitting on the picnic table, and the fancy vintage vase shattered into large and small pieces.

Granny gasped as she saw the remains of her precious gift fall onto the grass.

Veronica stood up, tears in her eyes. "Oh, Basil," she said. "I'm so proud of you."

**A/N: Hope you liked the whole mother and son bonding. I sure wish MY mom taught me how to box at Basil's age. Please leave a review!**


	5. Chapter 5: Daphne Takes the Dive

Daphne woke up and stretched. She looked around her room, scanning the walls and pictures on her dresser, getting the feeling that she was forgetting something very important. Then, she eyed the fancy card she'd propped up on her nightstand that read "THIS IS YOUR MOMENT!"

Of course. She was 10 today.

She leapt out of bed and practically skipped to the bathroom across the hall to take a refreshing shower. Then, she pulled on her ruffled purple dress with patterns of white stars and sequins that seemed to twinkle on it. As a last touch, Daphne pulled on her queen Elsa wig and applied makeup before giving herself a smile as she jumped down the stairs.

"Everyone knows what day it is today, right?"

Sabrina, Puck, Uncle Jake, Henry, and Granny Relda gaped at her.

"What?" Daphne twirled her blonde braid.

"Why are you wearing a wig?" Puck asked.

"Who said you could wear makeup?" demanded Sabrina, jealous her mother had taken the liberty of teaching Daphne, a surprisingly fast learner, how to apply makeup well, while she was still wary of an eyelash curler.

"Duh! I'm a princess! On my day I need to look like one and these lovely locks give me many powers!"

"The older she gets, the more that mind of hers expands towards the west path of wild imagination," Sabrina murmured.

Daphne ignored her. "I know what I want to do today," she announced.

"What, _libeling_?" Granny asked.

Just then, Veronica entered the room with Basil. "Oh, there's my princess!" she cooed, hugging Daphne.

"Mom, I'm 10! I'm my own princess now," Daphne said.

Veronica looked pointedly at Sabrina.

Sabrina threw her hands up. "I'm not teaching her this stuff!"

"What do you want to do on your special day?" Henry asked.

"I wanna go skydiving_!_"

Puck choked on his pancakes. "The little marshmallow wants to jump off a _bridge_?"

"That's bungee jumping," Sabrina corrected him.

"Then what's skydiving?" questioned Puck.

"It's when you jump off a plane and yank on your parachute in hopes of landing on the ground and being able to face another day of life," Henry quickly explained.

"That's awesome!" Puck exclaimed. "I'm in on this plan!"

"It's not a good idea. I'm afraid you're too young for dangerous stunts like that," Granny said.

"I agree with your grandmother. I certainly don't want my daughter risking injury," Veronica jumped in.

"But, Mom, you've done a lot of wild things as a kid! Wasn't it fun?" Daphne asked.

Veronica winced at certain memories. "Not all things were."

"Young lady, you will _not _go skydiving. That's suicidal," Henry scolded.

"Just invite Kate and Liz over and watch a movie," suggested Sabrina. "Turning 10 doesn't mean you have to try new things like skydiving."

"Yes, it does! None of you understand!" Daphne ran up the stairs away from her surprised family and shut the door tightly. She slunk against it, heartbroken. They still treated her the same way they treated her when she was seven. Why didn't they see growing up as a Grimm and detective changed her?

_They'll see,_ she thought. _They'll see just how daring I can be._

* * *

Daphne peeked over the living room couch and saw her uncle snoring loudly, his slight beard twitching. She quietly tiptoed around the couch and crouched down, shifting through the pockets of his coat thrown on the floor. She found the purplish red liquid in a curved jar. "I'm going over to Liz's house," she whispered to her uncle. He stirred in his sleep and mumbled something before nodding. Then Daphne quietly crawled out of the living room and out the front door.

She hid behind the chestnut tree on their front yard before opening the jar, sniffing the potion to make sure it was the right one and discovered her hunch was correct.

Daphne was holding the Sluggish Serving potion, the very potion that would, for a short period of time, convince someone to do something for her. Jake always hid the potion from her and her sister but after years of learning all his different spells and supplies, Daphne could easily tell by a potion's scent its capabilities and advantages. This potion would be very helpful for her to be able to jump on a plane and skydive, something she's wanted to do for a long time.

She hesitated. Her next move was going to be ruthless and maybe not a good choice afterwards. It would be wise to simply put the potion back where she found it and call up her friends to see _Maleficent. _

But was she doing to do that? Of course not. She was Daphne, she was way too diva-deliciously impetuous (her newest phrase).

She walked down the driveway and a few blocks down towards Liz's house. She knocked on the door before Liz's father opened. "Hello, Daphne," he smiled down at her. "Happy birthday!"

"Thank you, sir. I was just going to give Liz this delicious refreshment, but perhaps you'd like to try a sample of it?" asked Daphne hopefully.

"Certainly," he took the small jug from her and studied it. "Interesting. I've never seen a refreshment this color."

"Oh, it's the latest," Daphne said quickly, eager to avoid suspicion.

Liz's dad took a few sips of it and licked his lips. "Oh, my. It's delicious." He took a few more sips before chugging the rest down.

Daphne watched him enjoy the refreshment, triumph.

Then, his eyes got a misty look over them and he grinned dumbly. "Is there anything you want?"

"I want you to take me, Liz, and Kate skydiving," Daphne said simply.

Within minutes, she and her friend were buckled in the car and were driving next door to take Kate "shopping" with them. When they paused at the airport where people were going in with parachutes, the two friends looked at Daphne, confused.

"Why are we here?" asked Kate.

"We're here to go skydiving!" Daphne replied excitedly, prying the car door open.

The girls gaped at her.

"Are you _crazy_?" Liz cried.

"I guess so," was Daphne's cheerful answer.

"But-but-I'm scared of heights!" Kate said, swallowing.

Daphne touched her shoulder. "But you're not going to be up for long," she assured her. "You'll jump out of that plane confident, facing your fear in the face. Literally."

"Um, how exactly did my dad agree to this?" questioned Liz.

"Oh, well, he was convinced, said we were old enough and that we'll be secured properly," Daphne said guiltily.

The girls looked doubtfully at each other before turning towards the airport.

"Come on, girls!" Liz's dad said, beckoning towards them. "You have a class to catch!"

With lessons from tying ropes to releasing parachutes, Daphne wondered if this was a sport people did often. Their coach was trying to calm hyperventilating Kate down as she told her jumping out of a plane was fast and easy.

After an hour, the trio was ready. They were buckled in with baggy jumpsuits and large helmets as they boarded the plane.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Liz whispered.

"I've been born ready my whole life," Daphne said back, jiggling with excitement.

Their pilot opened the plane's door and a howling wind blasted in their faces, blowing signed papers agreeing they could go skydiving everywhere.

"Remember, kids, stay safe and good luck!" Liz's dad said. Then, his face slowly changed from its distracted state and he blinked hard, frowning. "What is going-''

"_JUMP!"_ Daphne screamed with such force that Kate ended up being the first one jumping, screaming loudly as she faced the ground below.

Liz stared at her dad puzzled and then at the tiny homes dotting the landscape miles of feet underneath them. "I don't think-"

"HAHHHHHHHYAAAAA!" Daphne yelled before swinging herself out of the plane, letting out a wail. She felt so free, flying through the air with her blonde wig billowing out of its braid as she glanced down. "I'M FREE!" she screamed. "I'm free and at liberty!"

Halfway through her freefall, she remembered the parachute. As she reached up to undo the knot of the parachute on her backpack to have it catch her and slow her down from making contact with any solid ground, she saw that the string was tangled and wouldn't free. Panicked, she attempted to tug on it harder but nothing budged. "HELP!" she yelled. "IT'S STUCK! IT'S-"

Now the houses didn't look as small as they first did.

With a desperate final attempt, Daphne bared her teeth and forcefully pulled on the parachute, setting it free, mere minutes before her knees skidded against the ground, she tumbled over, and consciousness faded.

* * *

Daphne slowly opened her eyes to a beeping monitor and a dim white ceiling. _What happened?_ she wondered. _Am I dead?_

The door flung open and her family came stampeding in. "_Liebling!" _Granny cried, sobbing with relief.

Sabrina stared at her sister, her emotions a mixture of rage, fear, and relief. "What is wrong with you?" she yelled.

Puck sulked. "You could've taken me along," he grumbled.

Henry strolled over to the hospital bed and looked like he was tempted to lash at his younger daughter before hugging her tightly.

Veronica sighed sadly. "I should've known my actions would affect my daughter one day."

"Kate! Liz!" Daphne bolted upright. "Where are they? What happened to them?!"

"Kate landed safely and seemed pretty happy about jumping out in the first place, and Liz didn't go at all," Jake replied.

Daphne heaved a sigh of relief.

"You don't know how much trouble you're in," Henry leered, regaining control and releasing his daughter. "You could've gotten killed."

"But I didn't," Daphne couldn't help stating in a matter-of-fact way.

"But you broke your leg," Puck pointed out.

Daphne glanced down at her right leg, which was wrapped up in a sturdy cast. Now she would be one of those faulty children who had everyone sign their casts.

A nurse came in the room and saw the family standing over their youngest member. "Oh, good, she's awake," the nurse said. "It wasn't pleasant finding a girl stranded in the forest, hurt and unconscious."

"We'll sign her out soon and pay the charges," Jake said.

"Fine by us," the nurse said, brushing back a strand of red hair.

Jake smiled. "You look lovely in that uniform," he said, winking.

The nurse blushed. "Thank you," she replied shyly, her cheeks slowly changing to a pink tone.

"You kind of look like someone I know," Jake said dreamily. "So pretty…"

Henry dragged him away by the ear. "Honestly, what do you think you are, in high school again?"

Granny turned to Daphne once more after her sons left the room. "You aren't allowed to invite your friends over for two months" she said. "Your phone and iPod will be taken away, along with your privilege of staying up late on weekends."

"And you can't watch TV, meaning no _Teen Wolf _as well," Veronica added.

"What?" Daphne grumbled. "That's not fair!"

"And it's also not fair you took my favorite potion and used it for your advantage," Jake replied, entering the room with a disgruntled Henry behind him.

"Fine," she sighed.

The doctors said she could get released after one more night and an X-ray before setting for home.

Daphne threw the wrinkled covers over her head before there was a knocking at the door.

"These are for you, miss," a doctor said, handing her a banquet of pink roses. Daphne smiled and took them from him. She read the white tag and saw swirly silver words that she could only identify as some kind of cursive saying, _Hope you get well soon! Love, Secret Admirer. _

She had gone sky diving with her friends, had broken her leg, and now had a secret admirer. It had been the best day ever.


	6. Chapter 6: Certain Rules Count

Rules Are Dull, But Certain Ones Count

On the way home, Puck sighed. "I wanna get a job."

Everybody swiveled around and stared at him, eyes widened, even Henry, causing him to make an especially sharp turn to swerve away from skidding the sidelines of the road. "Kid's gonna kill me one day," he grumbled.

"What do you mean you want to get a job?" Sabrina asked suspiciously.

"Well, how else are people able to make up for screwing things for other people?" retorted Puck. "If I got a job, I could do what I want and be able to pay for it with no problem."

"Use whatever reason you want if it'll keep you busy," Granny said, uncertain.

So with the positive note aside, Puck snuck on Sabrina's laptop _again_, browsing through websites until he found one that caught his eye.

NEED A JOB?

WANT MONEY IN CASE YOU SCREW UP?

THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO GO!

Puck glanced at the spot the site recommended, Burger Burns. It was a gourmet restaurant that had just recently opened up in a town minutes away from Ferryport Landing. Their food seemed very pricey but delicious. He smirked, plotting. Money plus his good looks would get him anything he wanted. And who knows? Maybe if he got a lot, he could consider forgiving Sabrina for not owing him the seven million dollars.

He saw a quick application with the title of "JUST ANSWER THESE 10 QUESTIONS AND YOU'RE HIRED!"

The questions were fairly easy and only two of them needed some meddling with the truth before Puck was able to send it. After two minutes, another window popped up, showing him his schedule for the next week. Puck slumped in his chair, relieved. Applying for a job was hard work. Thank goodness he was spared from job interviews and such.

Indeed, nowadays nearly everything seemed possible. Who knew you could get a job just like that, thanks to technology?

"Puck!" Sabrina yelled out suddenly, showing she was present in the room and caused Puck to jolt out of his daze of feeling satisfied. She sighed, a sigh one could describe as exasperation, but not exactly surprised at the events happening. "Don't you have anything else better to do than look up random junk online?"

"Usually, I do," Puck replied honestly. "I'm a busy man. But when it comes to unnecessary stuff, the important part of anyone's day, I can't help but reserve it."

Sabrina rolled her eyes and leaned across his shoulder to peer at the screen. "Burger Burns? Seriously?"

Puck flushed. "What were you expecting? It's gourment food! Who in their right minds wouldn't work there?"

She ignored him and continued to scan the page he'd agreed to the rules and guidelines of, blue eyes darting back and forth. When it seemed like she was finished, she smirked and straightened herself. "Did you read the whole pamphlet?"

"Only the stuff that mattered," answered Puck. "Not like it matters anyway."

Sabrina smirk turned up wider and now she was holding back laughter. "If you say so," she said, turning to go out the door and trotted down the hallway. As soon as she assumed she was out of earshot, she laughed.

Puck frowned and shook his head. Sometimes, his theory of Sabrina being out of it due to multiple injuries at war seemed completely valid.

* * *

When Puck arrived for his first shift, he actually felt overly confident. Shocking as it seems, Puck actually did show up on time. But hey, he had to show respect to his true love. They've been together for as long as he could remember. So when he saw the menu of fancy burgers hanging above the counter, he did tear up a bit. Honestly, it was a detail he really didn't like mentioning to anybody who hadn't been a witness to it.

A man who he could only assume would be his manager emerged out of the swinging back door behind the counter. He had a thick goatee and slicked black hair. He eyed Puck with eyes of steel, and suddenly Puck had a moment of doubt and a tiny part of insecurity washed over him. It was the exact same look his father had given him since he was a fledgling.

But then the man bellowed out in such a goofy, light-heating voice that had Puck snap out of whatever state he had temporarily fallen in.

The man cried out in a foreign language, a wide smile plastered across his face.

"Uhh.." Puck stared at him, bewildered for a few seconds. "What?"

Once again, the man spoke, this time doing careless waves of the hand and shrugging.

Groaning, Puck massaged the sides of his temples. "You're foreign thingie is hurting my medium-sized brain."

As the man made another attempt, Puck tried not to zone out and managed to translate one word. "Okay then," he sighed. "At least I know who you are now."

Puck's new manager thrust a T-shirt at Puck. He pointed to himself, chattering another unknown statement before walking around the counter before waving at Puck and going through the double doors, which flipped back and forth behind him.

_Ugh. Did the application say anything about speaking foreign? _Puck thought, throwing his uniform over his gritty hoodie. Oh, well. He was doing it for the money and food anyway. He didn't need to be arching over little things like this.

The bell chimed, and Puck looked up to face his first new customer. She was a pretty girl with curly black hair and dark blue eyes. She wore silver hoop earrings and wore a dark brown trench coat.

Puck flashed his biggest, most flirty grin. "So, what can I get you?"

"Hello!" The girl said, giving Puck hope until she pointed at the menu behind him, telling him her order. And of course, not in English.

He smacked his head down against the tabletop. Now he had to deal with foreign customers? Puck began to think that this was a restaurant entirely dedicated to foreigners, such as French people. He vaguely wondered if the sign outside read that.

"Oh, um…" Suddenly, a light bulb went on. "You want a hamburger! Right!" Puck snatched a pad that was sitting at the side next to the register and furiously scrawled out the order. "A hamburger…on a plate...with…mayonnaise?"

The girl just kept smiling at him cheekily.

"Alright, if you insist. I'll give you a discount," Puck winked at the woman before turning to get to work. He was an expert chef and managed to make quite a fancy meal using bread, lettuce, and the ordinary household ingredients you would find in your own fridge. But when he turned back towards the register, the girl was gone.

Feeling disappointed, Puck roughly placed the fresh hamburger down on the counter and leaned his head against his fist, sighing. Then, realizing he wasn't on his game today and wasn't doing what he was supposed to, he lifted the burger and started to eat it.

Not long after he was halfway through it, the bell chimed once again, and Puck saw the girl again. This time, she was carrying a thick, modern-looking book.

"Okay, I don't care if you're foreign or pretty, but leaving after you just ordered food? Even I don't think that's right," Puck protested, glaring at the girl.

All she had the nerve to do was hand over the book.

"I don't read, okay? You can take this crud back," Puck started to give back the dusty textbook, but not before he glimpsed the title. _FRENCH LESSONS: LEARN HOW TO TRANSLATE ENGLISH TO FRENCH _

He slowly looked back up at the girl, who was now going through her purse to pull out the money she originally owed him for the burger, which was now getting cold.

"No, it's okay. Keep the change." Puck told her.

She blubbered out something else, but surprised Puck by finishing her sentence with some English, very slowly. "I'll see if I can come by tomorrow. Work on language, then we'll talk." the girl responded, waving at Puck before exiting the restaurant.

Puck scrawled down whatever she'd said before, frantically going through the crimped pages. He found bits and pieces of words. Twenty minutes later, a dopey smile spread on his face and he could only numbly stare into space, heart fluttering with hope.

**A/N: Ahhhh, don't kill me! I tried something different here, but don't fear, Puckabrina will have to come by, right? I am not giving anything away besides that! Hope you enjoyed! Review if you get the chance, please!**


	7. Chapter 7: Basil Solves Differences

**A/N: Readers, I am pleased to say I have returned to writing on fanfiction! For a while now, it seems I haven't been able to contrive new ideas for my stories; however, the deadline for The Irish Lass's challenge is very soon, and I've been wanting to finish. I am now using the prompt 'Basil Senior and Relda in any situation' It may need some work, it's been quite some time since I've written anything.**

"Hen-Hen!" Fetus Jake called out, ruffling his hair out of a mere habit. "Come!"

A surly boy with curly blonde hair ambled down the Hall of Wonders towards his brother. "Don't call me that," he grouched.

Jake ignored his brother, who was acting rather churlish that evening. "Look," he pointed. "This door, it's bolted with heavy locks. What could be inside?"

Henry shrugged, not at all in the mood for his brother's usual antics. "What does it matter?" he asked. "There are a lot more places to explore that aren't forbidden."

"Yeah, but if they're allowed, they're probably not as tempting as this one," said Jake reasonably, pulling out Merlin's wand and pointing it tentatively at the door. "C'mon, don't be a laggard!"

"Whatever," Henry turned on his heels to leave.

"Where's that fun brother of mine?" teased Jake before chanting out a spell loudly. A current of light spiraled out of the old wand, colliding with the locks, causing them to shudder uncontrollably and drop to the cold ground.

Henry took two more steps away.

Jake rolled his eyes at him. "See? Nothing happened." He stepped over the heap of chains and peered into the gray room. "Hmm, not much-"

Large tentacles lashed across his head, making contact with Henry's back.

He yelped and turned on his heels. A thinner tentacle aimed for his leg while Henry was still looking back slightly. He attempted to whirl away and kick the long arms reached out, twisting his ankle in the process. The tentacle tugged at it. A slight crack could be heard in the shallow hall.

As black faded to gray before white stars popped into his line of view, he noticed Jake running towards him, tentacles entangling him. "Henry!"

* * *

Relda Grimm glanced at the two of them with some disdain. "What have I said about sneaking into the Hall of Wonders after seven? And to go even without your father?"

"Jake did, not me," Henry said automatically, wincing. Though Basil had cooked up an antidote that'd slowly minimize the pain throbbing through his ankle, he could still feel pinches every now and then. "I was the victim."

His brother rolled his eyes. "Well, you didn't stop me."

Basil leaned back in the wooden chair. "For disobeying me and unlocking a door that could've held more deadly creatures, I'm invalidating your privilege of going into the hall for a week."

Jake leapt up. "That isn't fair!" he cried. "You were going to teach me new tricks, how to flick anything without the use of a wand!"

"That'll have to wait," Basil said, making his point clear. "Now go to your room."

"Of course. Choose Henry's side. Like usual!" shouted Jake. "I guess I'm just a nonentity, right?" He moved away from everyone and charged up the stairs.

Basil sighed, facing the direction he'd run towards worriedly.

* * *

That same night, Relda and Basil quietly strolled into the Hall of Wonders to have a talk with somebody. Quiet echoes rumbled around them, breezes seemingly coming from nowhere in particular, blowing by them casually. Outside, the moon seemed to glint in a menacing way.

Relda shifted through the endless ring of keys in the otherwise dim hall. Somehow able to find the right one quick enough, she pushed it into the bronze lock and lightly pushed on the door. "Mirror?"

"Why, hello!" Mirror said enthusiastically. He sat cross-legged on a stool, skimming through the newspaper, frowning. "The building selling bread in town was shut down for burning a batch the day before a wedding? Scandalous. What has this Ferryport Landing become?"

"We need your help," Basil interrupted, choosing not the question his bald friend for reading a newspaper this late. He stood in front of the mirror. "There's been some kind of incident today with my two sons. Jake is upset and thinks we constantly choose Henry's perspective over his. I don't want my family to fall apart." He rubbed his eyes, taking a breath.

"Now, don't you think you're overdoing it a little, Basil?" Mirror chided. "Perhaps you should explain this better to Jake, articulate your words clearer. This was a simple misunderstanding. I wouldn't be too hard on it."

"No, it's not just that," responded Basil. "My mother and father always fought over minor things. And one day, just for a short insult, our father just left us. He never seemed to care."

"Oh, Basil," Relda said sadly, gripping her husband's arm, sorrow passing over the two mutually.

Mirror rubbed his chin, deep in thought. When he spoke again, his voice was close to inaudible. "Perhaps the boys had never had a chance to bond. It seems Henry is envious of Jake, and there should be an opportunity for them to reciprocate."

"But, how?" asked Relda.

"Play things out," smiled Mirror.

* * *

"Boys, I want to show you something," Basil said the very next day.

"What?" Henry questioned, immediately curious.

Jake stuck his fork into his pink pancakes, carelessly dribbling rainbow syrup with his other hand, not saying a word.

Basil waited until Jake finished eating his breakfast rather slowly before leading them out the back door. The trio strolled down the pathway aligned with pebbles and crumbling stones into the vast woods. Once Basil spotted the patch of light grass that seemed to stick out among the dark green spots, he stopped short. He gestured the boys into a shrine of trees until they finally came to a break on a cliff overlooking the small town, the river snaking around it, and the world beyond.

"Wow," Henry looked down, amazed that the little dots below their feet were, up close, actual houses and places.

"I know." Basil sat down on the wooden stump buckled into the dusty ground. Henry joined him and so did Jake, though he remained aloof and left a gap of space from the two.

"I just wanted to tell you both a story. When I was younger, my parents often got into these what appeared to be silly fights. Either my mom would be disappointed over something my dad wanted, or my dad would rage because he never got his way when he shouldn't have anyway." Basil fixed his gaze on Jake. "What I'm saying is, don't stop because of one misfortune. Learn from it. Then move along."

Jake sighed. "Sorry about your ankle, Henry. I hadn't meant for that to happen, really."

"I know you didn't," said Henry. "From now on, just try and stay clear from that kind of unwanted trouble, though."

"I'll try to," Jake grinned.

Basil felt overjoyed as the two made peace, and got up to walk back to the house.

"How did it go?" Relda asked, cooking a lunch that seemed to consist of chili burgers with a strange vibrant orange that would have to resemble ketchup.

"Great," Basil kissed his wife on the cheek. "It really is nice when everybody is bonding again."

"It is indeed," Relda agreed, wrapping her arms around Basil's neck. The two kissed as the sun joyfully peeked through the windows, a new day starting at last.


	8. Chapter 8: Flowers Don't Always Help

**A/N: Whoo hoo! Final prompt to wrap up the overall :)**

"Alison!" Emma skirted around the staircase, hurrying into the living room, but not without running into Parker, her elder sister's boyfriend. "Uhh…sorry." She looked away.

He grinned good-naturedly. "It's cool."

"Emma," Alison scolded. She mindlessly loped a stray piece of her blonde hair fallen from her messy bun around her finger. "You shouldn't have been running anyway."

She shrugged. "I have something important to tell you."

"This better be good," murmured Alison, leaning back on the old, plush sofa.

"Well, I should get going, I guess. I'll see you soon, Ali." Parker stooped down and landed a quick kiss on his girlfriend's cheek before briskly walking towards the door.

"I thought you guys weren't seeing each other anymore since last week?" Emma interrogated her sister.

"It isn't any of your business who I am and won't be seeing anymore," responded Alison.

Emma chose to neglect her sister's rudeness. Nowadays she always seemed to ostracize her younger sister from her daily life routine. "Well, what I wanted to tell you was, this Friday is Valentine's day!"

"I know," replied Alison. "Parker and I are going for dinner at this restaurant that opened up last month."

"I think we should surprise Mom and Dad with something," Emma continued.

Alison snorted. "Dad already has something in store for Mom."

"How do you know?"

"Because you know when he has this sort of evil glint in his eyes when he's planning something? I saw it when he said he was excited for this Friday. I bet he has some conspiracy cooked up."

Emma rolled her eyes. Her sister always assumed she could get a hold of answers. "We could do something too. I mean, we just discovered we're fairies! We can celebrate-''

"Look," her sister interrupted, not too shamefully either. "I told you, I'm going out with Parker that day. And why celebrate? It sucks. I just need to pray my ugly wings don't decide to spring out and knock over the delicious cheesecake we're going to try."

"But Ali, Parker is ch-''

"Can't talk." Her sister got on her feet and stretched. "I have homework to finish up." she sauntered up the stairs.

Emma sighed, recalling what she'd seen two days ago. On her way home from her art class, Parker had stood a few feet away, back facing her, chatting with a girl not much younger than him. Neither Emma nor her mom pondered too heavily on it, until he'd leaned forward and planted a light kiss on the girl's lips.

"If I just had a dime for each time Parker broke up with Alison," her mother had said with disdain. "Not even Puck could've been this much of a jerk," she murmured.

"Should-should I tell her?"

"Of course you should!" exclaimed Sabrina. "It's wrong. Just be grateful your aunt isn't here. She would go right up to Parker and give him a kick swiftly to the butt."

Emma clenched her fists. "I'm tempted to do just that."

Sabrina had then steered her clear from Parker before she could get any more ideas.

Now, if Emma could just find a solution that'd enable her to corner her sister, that'd be just great.

* * *

Friday morning, Alison's dad dramatically flipped pancakes in the air. His face seemed to be permanently frozen with a grin.

"Um, dad?" Alison said. "You're creeping me out here."

"Sorry," he said, though he didn't seem to be too intent with that apology. "I just can't wait until my dear wife sees the romantic thing I'd put together."

A loud shriek echoed down the hall, followed by a muffled bang. _"Puck!"_ Sabrina cried out.

She turned to fully face her father. "Really? Isn't that prank old now?"

"Oops. That was supposed to be Saturday's prank. Guess I got sidetracked," said Puck solemnly. "Well, no matter. Tonight's surprise will be special."

"I hope my date will be special too," Alison said thoughtfully.

Puck made a face. "Just don't get too close. Guys like him will always have tricks _literally _up their sleeves."

"That's not true."

"It can be. Just like Jake, he used to smuggle his wand under his coat, then when anybody around him sneezed, he'd-''

Alison abruptly stood up. "I don't need to know," she asserted him. Then, she swiftly placed her empty plate in the sink and left the room.

"It wasn't anything bad!" he called out. He looked down at the plates of pancakes that were slightly burnt. Bono and Edge burst into the room. "Hopefully she'll get it someday," Puck mumbled, no longer talking about Jake's trick, petting the two dogs' fluffy heads

* * *

"Oh, Parker," gushed Alison. "This is beautiful."

It was indeed. The restaurant was decked out for the romantic holiday. Red garland intertwined the straight-backed chairs. Flares of light flickered slightly from the pale candles releasing a soft glow. Couples chatted and laughed, sharing their meals with each other.

Parker and Alison walked over to the hostess, arm and arm. "Table for two, please," said Parker calmly.

The hostess squinted at Parker for moment. "Right this way," she said, albeit hesitantly. She guided the way to a rounded dining table with ruffled roses decorating the edges of the lined tablecloth.

"This is beautiful," said Alison again, glancing around in awe as she slid into the booth.

Parker sat across from her and smiled. "I knew you'd like it."

Suddenly, the table jerked. Alison couldn't help the shriek escaping her lips.

Slowly, Parker cautiously leaned down to inspect the floor below the tablecloth. A flash of cloth darted underneath Alison's legs.

"No-it can't be-'' she scrambled out of the booth, tripped on her black heels, and toppled on top of the figure attempting to escape. "_Why_ are you here, Em?"

Emma attempted to smooth out her braid and adjust her sparkly bow at the same time. "I came to warn you!''

Alison ignored her response for a moment. "How did you even get here?"

"Flying carpet! Dad let me take it for a spin so it was just him and Mom, don't worry though, nobody saw-''

"Ugh!" Alison thrust aside her purse and covered her face with her hands. "Can't anybody be normal anymore? Can't _anyone_ have a logical reason for anything?"

"Ali," Emma gently touched her sister's wrist. "Parker is cheating on you. Mom and I saw him kiss another girl not too long ago."

"Why-why should I believe you?" Alison managed to stutter out weakly.

Emma shrugged. "Why shouldn't you?"

Alison scoffed. "Because maybe you're making all this up to conjure your own fun."

"Why would this be fun for me, Ali?" said Emma softly. "You exclude me from your conversations with people, you don't let me try some of your makeup, and you don't even let me read in your room!"

"That's because you insist I hear the plot of _every_ single book you read," reasoned Alison. "But..it seems what you say about Parker is true," she sighed.

Somebody cleared their throat. Both girls turned to see Parker, sitting cross-legged in the booth, looking at the two still sprawled on the floor. "Well, hi there."

Emma slowly rose and offered Alison a hand.

"You're a jerk, Parker," Alison said steadily. "I don't know why I even agreed to go out with you again in the first place."

"Because I give you everything you need," Parker said simply. "I'm all you need in order for you to escape your family. I mean, lately you've been focused on that."

Alison glared at him. "You don't give me everything you need. What I really need is somebody who cares about me enough to take me out on a real date, and would never cheat on me. Is that so hard? I guess so, since you can't even do it. Let's go, Em."

A frosty air had settled outside. People were pulling their coats up to their chins. Somewhere, a dog barked.

Behind the restaurant, underneath a pillar, Emma slowly dragged out the rolled up carpet and flattened it on the solid ground. It wasn't long until tears escaped Alison's eyes as she shakily got onto the carpet.

Emma hugged her sister. "It's okay now. Carpet, take us home."

"I've been such a loser!" ranted Alison as Carpet obeyed Emma's commands, tussling its fringe. "I took Parker back even though I knew it would be a completely terrible idea, I've been so mean to you,and-," she wiped her eyes. "I hate the fact Everafters exist!"

Emma carefully loosened her braid, and her hair flowed out, swiftly whipping in front of her face wildly. "Oh, I know it's sudden, but it really isn't that bad. How is it bad, anyway?"

Alison shrugged. "It just is, okay? It shouldn't be a real thing."

"Not everything should be real," Emma attempted to reason. "Some things don't deserve to. But being an Everafter isn't bad. They can be good. They were in our fairy tales. Well, other children's anyway. We never read them," she stared off into space. "But they were a part of people's lives. Everafters had great messages in their stories, they fended for themselves, they cared for others, and they tried to learn from their mistakes."

Alison stared at her younger sister. "Since when were you so smart?"

Emma looked away modestly. "I kind of quoted off Aunt Daphne," she admitted. "She could go on about this stuff forever."

Alison smiled. "True." Below them, billions of dazzling lights loomed. Houses slowly zoomed into view. "Hey, what was Dad's surprise for Mom anyway?"

"He was going to serenade her," smirked Emma. "Then, he planned to pick her up and throw her into the mountain of flowers and heart candies that's been flooding our basement."

"What?" Alison broke out laughing. "Wow. He totally would plan that."

"Yup. He had them delivered ahead of time." Emma glanced down and noted a store was still open. "You want to stop by and pick up a box of doughnuts?"

"Sure," responded Alison. "Wait," she gasped. "My purse! It's still in the restaurant!"

Emma slid the purse out of her chiffon dress's pocket. "Or is it?"

Alison grinned. "Oh, Em."

Her younger sister leaned her head against Alison's shoulder. Side by side, they landed lightly at the back of their favorite doughnut shop.


End file.
